Griffith Comes Full Circle, Landing Back in Winnipeg with Blazers MVB
Griffith competing with the Mohawk Mountaineers of the OCAA
The CMU Men's Volleyball program is very pleased to announce the commitment of Brayden Griffith for the 2023/24 MCAC season. The Winnipeg product has played collegiate volleyball in both Alberta and Ontario, and is ready to finish his career in his hometown where he hopes to lift the Blazers back to another MCAC title and CCAA National Championships appearance.
A 2016 graduate of John Taylor Collegiate, Griffith has seen success at every level of volleyball he's played at, both personally and as a team. A captain of the 2014 Team Manitoba Gold 16U squad, Griffith springboarded that experience under high-level coaching and competition into consecutive WWAC Tier 1 Championship titles with his John Taylor Pipers teams, as well as berths in the 2014/15 and 2015/16 MHSAA "AAAA" Provincial Volleyball Championships.
On the youth club side, Griffith split his years of eligibility with Winman Volleyball Club and 204 Volleyball Club, the latter of which has become a veritable feeder program for Blazers men's volleyball in recent years. Between the two clubs he reached the Volleyball Manitoba Provincial Finals five times, including two Championship titles while playing with Winman Club.
Griffith's post-secondary career is of course worthy of note as well. After graduating high school, as many of the top talent from Manitoba did at the time, he took his talents West to play in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) with Lakeland College. His rookie season as a Rustler he was a top-10 kill leader in the entire 17 team conference. After another season in Lloydminster, the 6'4" outside hitter made the move East, settling in Hamilton, Ontario, where he signed with the Mohawk Mountaineers of the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA). There he played two more seasons, following up the COVID-cancelled season as a top three kill leader in the OCAA, which consists of 27 colleges and universities across the province.
Now very familiar with CCAA competition across the country, Griffith decided a move home for his final year of eligibility was in the cards, and he's all-in for his final season. "After competing in Alberta and Ontario, I am excited to compete in the MCAC because I will be back home," states the Blazers' latest addition. "Competing and living in another province for so long has made me grow to miss playing volleyball in Winnipeg." Griffith met the team when they travelled to the Niagara region this past January and was impressed with the core group of players, and is hopeful his talent and experience will help the team back to the top of the podium in the MCAC, and earn another chance to compete at a CCAA National Championship.
Blazers head coach Don Dulder is of course also looking forward to bringing in another top-level talent to his squad, giving him more depth at left side, and the ability for Griffith to share his wealth of experience with the team. "Brayden is coming back to Manitoba for his final year of eligibility and his talent and experience have us very excited here at CMU," notes Dulder. "We believe Brayden can help our team get to the next level as he is an excellent all around player with special attacking skills. Having played in two previous college programs and for our local 204 Club he brings a great deal of experience and knowledge to our program, so he'll both be able to be inserted directly into our starting lineup as well as help develop our younger players as well."
Griffith has landed back in Winnipeg ahead of the school year, and will be heading into training camp in fine form after a full summer of beach and grass volleyball out in Ontario. His first opportunity for game action with the green and gold will be at Lakeland College, where he began his post-secondary career, as the Blazers head out of town for a pre-season tournament to test themselves against some of the best in the ACAC.
Following a sixth-consecutive MCAC Finals appearance this February, the Blazers will once again look to make an appearance on the national stage next season. The winner of the MCAC championship goes on to compete at a national level at the CCAA championship tournament, with this year's tournament held earlier this March in Toronto, Ontario. The CCAA is the national body for collegiate athletics in Canada, offering 10 national championships in seven sports. Now finished its second full year of participation, the Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference joins five other established CCAA conferences; PacWest (BC), ACAC (Alberta-Sask), OCAA (Ontario), RSEQ (Quebec) and ACAA (Atlantic).
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